30% Of Internet Users In The U.S. Would Consider Becoming Cable Cutters: Survey

Could we soon see the end of TV as we know it? Perhaps, if the popularity of Internet television continues in its current trajectory. In a recent survey, Belkin and Harris Interactive found that 30 percent of U.S. Internet users would consider ending their cable plan and watching television exclusively online. While online video streaming has definitely been rising in popularity over the past few years, that nearly a third of the Internet-using population is ready to give up (or already has given up) on cable is sign that the tide is quickly turning against traditional subscription TV.

The data must terrify cable companies. Currently, 106.2 million American watch TV shows online at least once a month. In 2014, the survey predicts, over 50 percent of the U.S. Internet population -- or 130.7 million people -- will be watching television online. Already, about 80 percent of the U.S. population uses the Internet. This is 80 percent of the entire U.S. population, including those who too young to use computers. The math is clear: If current Internet use hold at that proportion, it looks like about 40 percent of all Americans will be watching television on their computers by 2014.

Another set of numbers explain why the shift in public opinion toward Internet TV is happening. Time Warner charges $22.75 per month and Comcast charges $29.95 per month for the first 12 months. Netflix's online streaming only option costs less than half that, at $7.99 per month. Amazon Prime (which comes with other perks like free shipping from Amazon) costs $79 per year, or about $6.50 per month.

Even established yet still nimble content providers like HBO realize the shift in consumer opinion. Its CEO, Richard Plepler, last month openly discussed the possibility of offering the channel as a standalone Internet service. It's just a matter of time before other stations follow that lead, or fall behind.

30% Of Internet Users In The U.S. Would Consider Becoming Cable Cutters: Survey

Netflix Tips And Tricks

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Don't Watch A Movie Without Rating It

When you finish a show or movie on Netflix, the site requests that you give it between one and five stars, based on how much you enjoyed it. You're not being asked to rate that content for kicks, or so that you can later reminisce about how much you liked a certain film: Rather, Netflix has spent many years improving its recommendation engine, even offering a $1 million prize for anyone who could up the accuracy of Netflix recommendations by 10 percent.
At this point, the Netflix recommendation engine is pretty darn accurate -- it takes into account your own ratings as well as the viewing habits of those similar to you. Basically, the more films you rate, the more you're likely to enjoy a Netflix recommendation. If you constantly find yourself frustrated that there's nothing on Netflix, take a half hour or so and knock out a few hundred ratings on the "Taste Profile" section of the site, and make sure you've filled in your genre preferences, too.
Finally, if Netflix persists in recommending a title that you're just never going to watch -- for me, that would be "The Lincoln Lawyer" -- remember that you can click on the "Not Interested" button on any film's homepage and it will disappear from your recommendations page while simultaneously smartening up your future recs.
(For an in-depth look at the Netflix recommendation engine, and how it works, I recommend this post on Netflix's official blog.)